Local guides in Mysuru

Mysuru rewards knowing two things a guidebook will not tell you: which gate to enter the palace by, and what time to be on Chamundi Hill. The main palace entrance queues badly from about ten; the eastern gate rarely does. The hill is a thousand steps or a road, and either way it is a different place at six in the morning than at noon.

Devaraja Market is the part of the day where going with a local changes the experience rather than just narrating it. It is a working market — flowers by the kilo, kumkum in open trays, bananas in a dozen varieties nobody outside Karnataka can name. Prices move depending on who is asking.

The silk is woven a short drive out of town, and the difference between a showroom and a working loom is the noise. If you have half a day rather than a full one, that is the thing to keep.